Michigan State's head coach Tom Izzo, left, smiles while talking with Jase Richardson during the game against Minnesota on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

MSU, Big Ten Dominated First Round of NBA Draft

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Tom Cavanaugh | Last updated Jun 29, 2025 2:30 PM ET

Many said that the SEC was the best conference in college basketball last year, but look no further than what the Big Ten was able to produce on Night 1 of the 2025 NBA Draft. Nearly one-third of the first-round selections went to players from the Big Ten, the best conference in the NCAA.

Eight different players from the Big Ten were chosen in the first 30 picks of the draft, while the SEC had only five. The ACC had four, the Big 12 produced three and the Big East had just two.

First Round Picks in the NBA Draft by Conference:

Big Ten — 8
SEC — 5
ACC — 4
Big 12 — 3
Big East — 2
MWC — 1
WCC — 1 pic.twitter.com/rbzJ9Nkd2s
— College Basketball Report (@CBKReport) June 26, 2025

Two of the first five picks in the draft went to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights as dual freshman Dylan Harper (No. 2 - Spurs) and Ace Bailey (No. 5 - Jazz) were the first two Big Ten players off the board. That was followed by Maryland's Derek Queen at No. 13 to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Illinois Fighting Illini received back-to-back picks with another freshman duo. Kasparas Jakucionis went No. 20 to the Miami Heat while Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year, Will Riley, was taken No. 21 to the Washington Wizards.

Michigan State's own Jase Richardson went No. 25 to the Orlando Magic, following in his father Jason's footsteps as a first-round pick and fellow Magic player. He was the lone Spartan to be drafted but was one of the more impressive players to come out of the conference.

Two of the final four picks of the first round stayed in conference as Michigan's Danny Wolf at No. 27 to the Nets and Penn State's Yanic Konan Niederhauser to the Clippers with pick No. 30.

After seeing the number of Big Ten, NBA-ready players that were taking the first round, it puts even more weight on the Spartans' Big Ten title from last season. They ripped off an incredible 17-3 record, in conference, taking down some of the most elite talents in the entire nation.

Of the seven other Big Ten players that were taken in the first round, Michigan State was a combined 7-0 against teams that featured those select players. Richardson and the rest of the Spartans utterly dominated the rest of the soon-to-be NBA talent that was in the conference.

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